New Recipes Week 3

New recipe for this week....

Jalapeno Quesadilla from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier.

*Note to self - Turn on the vent when cooking jalapenos unless you enjoy all the hacking, coughing and eye watering.

If I was patient I would wait until this summer to make this when I have tons of jalapenos and cilantro in my garden, but I'm not, so whatever. 

Here's the recipe.  I used Colby and Monterey Jack cheese instead of just the Monterey Jack that the recipe calls for to add some depth to the flavor and really punch it up... jk that is all they had already shredded at the store, ha!

You may be thinking that this doesn't count as a new recipe because it's super easy and I already know how to make quesadillas, but it does count because it was in a book and I have never made this specific one before, so whatever.  (Obviously I have never cooked jalapenos by themselves before or I would have known to wear a mask so as not to breathe in the fumes.)

Anyway, these were good, but I don't know if my face can take the jalapeno fumes again so we'll see :)

New Recipes Week 2

New recipe for this week is from the book Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust by Ina Garten.

I made this...

 

Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

 

Who knew that boiling balsamic vinegar into a syrup would be so delicious?  (A lot of people, probably.) 

 

This was really good and super easy to make.  I used frozen brussels sprouts because it was easier and cheaper, but I like to think I made up for this by using actual prosciutto instead of bacon (prosciutto is expensive, ya'll). 

 

The kids ate this like they eat all other vegetables, only after being forced, threatened and cajoled.  But I could tell that deep down they really liked it even though they refused to admit it.  A mom just knows these things :)

 

This is definitely something I would make again.  Plus I'm thinking of using the balsamic reduction on everything else that I make, ever.  So I would say that this is definitely a winner!  Here's a link to the recipe.

New Recipes Week 1

So... I'm a little behind on posting this because... I just am, super sorry. 

This year I am trying to make one new recipe a week so here goes...

My first new recipe is from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond.  (Btdubs, I love the Pioneer Woman, she is awesomesauce, when she started doing her show on the Food Network, I was all "I know her! I know her!" ala Buddy the Elf, but I digress.)

The recipe is Ranch Style Chicken and it was delicious!  Um, hello, bacon and cheese, it's hard to go wrong with that.  (Good thing, because if I could go wrong with it, I would.)  Here's the recipe (sort of, it's slightly different in the book).  I didn't add the crushed red pepper because, kids, and I baked it in the oven instead of grilling it because, winter and I don't know how to use the grill thingy, but other than that I totes followed the recipe and it was great.  Everybody ate it!  Winning!  I foresee making this many times in the future :)